NAB 2017: Primestream Improves FORK and Xchange Suite

FORK 5.5 Ups the Ante
Primestream is simplifying access to powerful features through new upgrade opportunities and open API access to customers with support contracts. Slated to be exhibited at NAB 2017, the new version of its FORK production and automation platform is built for ease of use with the powerful features needed to manage even the most complex sports, enterprise, and broadcast workflows, from capture through delivery.

Primestream is improving the FORK production and automation system.

The update offers a specific focus on performance and efficiency. Customers upgrading to FORK 5.5 receive significant User Experience improvements to the Content Navigator with the introduction of dynamic interface views based on the task at hand, as well as significant improvements with native MXF and 4K UHD workflows by increasing baseband I/O throughput and efficiency. FORK also delivers significant improvements and synchronization with Primestream’s Xchange platform.

Xchange is a web-based, enterprise-ready software platform offering single and multisite operations global access to their content and workflows. When combined with FORK’s suite of products, it seamlessly integrates file-based workflows with signal-based infrastructures — giving users a clear path as they evolve their workflows and facilities over time.

FORK 5.5 also offers a new Media Processing Framework (MPF) and Media Player Recorder (MPR), which enables native reading and writing of MXF-based and Atom-based files, such as MP4 video, giving professionals the ability to work with leading broadcast file formats while leveraging Atom-based file formats for creating proxy assets and the delivery of web content.

“At Primestream, we are committed to making our products more accessible, easy to use, and powerful for our users,” says Claudio Lisman, president/CEO, Primestream. “FORK 5.5 provides a whole new redesigned user experience built for ease of use, with a powerful new 4K UHD workflow.”

More From Primestream at NAB
In addition to the new version of FORK, Primstream will highlight new project-centric workflows enable users and teams to intuitively create, share and collaborate on projects inside Xchange, or via the Xchange extension panel within Adobe Premiere Pro CC. Users can now organize raw footage or easily switch between proxy and high-res source material for effective remote/offsite editing. Other advances to Xchange include support for new Equirectangular VR/360-Asset Management, enabling media playback and review, with “spatial/360” visual marker annotations to highlight areas of interest in a 360° space. Xchange also brings a new module for creating playlists of media assets and exporting for delivery to VOD solutions.

“We’re excited to give our users an easy path to 4K/UHD and VR/360 workflow while addressing the need for teams to collaborate on projects from anywhere,” said Claudio Lisman, President and CEO of Primestream. “The advances being announced today are tangible steps in Primestream’s commitment to be ‘simply powerful’. Together these advances enable Primestream users to capture, produce, manage and deliver assets more easily than ever before.”

Primestream will also demonstrate Xchange Workspaces, a new module for easily building and customizing the Graphical User Interface (GUI) based on the different ways people work. Users can also enrich content with Workspaces’ built-in metadata tagging engine that integrates with metadata sources such as the Associated Press (AP) industry-leading metadata platform.

NAB 2017 will also see new integrations with third-party vendors such as Amazon S3 and SwiftStack for object-based storage, file-based Quality Control (QC) with Baton by Interra, high-speed file transfers with Aspera and FileCatalyst, seamless transcoding with Elemental and Telestream, and enhancements to NLE integration with Adobe Premiere Pro, Avid Media Composer, and Apple Final Cut Pro X.